


Snakes can learn to dance too

by totalsafety



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater, Step Up (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Step Up AU, the first one ofc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-14 09:15:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4559085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totalsafety/pseuds/totalsafety
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam can’t believe his partner broke their ankle he really needs a new one (partner not ankle) and Ronan hates this rich kid art school fuck community service</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Are you sure you don’t want to try again, Adam? I really think I’ve-“

“No, you can go, it’s ok. Thanks for coming. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

With a fleeting glance, Ronan sees Adam deflate after the double doors of the studio close. His sigh radiates _don’t let anyone see_ and _not a failure_ and _I can handle it on my own_ as he collapses into the chair. Adam’s head lulls against the column; it’s a moment of defeat, and he’s allowing himself to wallow in misery before the panic comes wading in. 

As Ronan descends the ladder and replays the last hour, he viciously smirks trying to hold in bits of laughter. Adam is obviously in no mood for any humor, but it can’t be helped. Watching these weak-ass boys try to do this lift move with Adam was hilarious. Half of them backed away right before Adam jumped, while the other half lost their balance in the middle of the turn, causing both boys to tumble to the ungrateful, wooden floors. At least Adam was surprisingly graceful at falling. 

Ronan stacks the ladder against the wall and sets the burnt out lightbulbs in a small box. He stares at Adam, profile highlighted by the afternoon sunlight. After just one step towards the sullen mess, he hesitates. 

_Last chance, ballerina. If you get up_ right now, _I won’t say anything._

Adam’s bare leg twitches. Ronan stills. Adam slumps further down and readjusts his head. 

Ronan whispers a curse under his breath and walks the rest of the way over. He stops a little to the side of Adam as if he’s not entirely sure of his intentions. Ronan clears his throat, and Adam jerks his head up.

“I could do it.”

Adam is too frustrated to be incredulous. He’s just confused.

“…Do what…” 

It’s more of a prompt for Ronan to continue his sentence, as if he left it unfinished, rather than a question. 

“I don’t know…whatever you guys were trying to do—”

He ends with a vague gesture towards the middle of the studio, looking back at Adam to gauge his reaction. Adam scoffs loudly. Now he’s incredulous. His entire body seems to wake up, eyes lightened with mocking disbelief and arms crossed over his thin v-neck. 

“Are you kidding?”

“Does it look like I’m kidding?” Ronan growls.

It turns into a staring contest. Adam breaks first to laugh a single note, shaking his head at the floor. He smiles with contempt in his eyes and stands. 

“Thanks, but—” Ronan’s backing away before Adam finishes, “I’ll just find someone else.”

“Okay. Just trying to help,” Ronan grumbles. He grabs the box of lightbulbs to throw away and makes it halfway to the doors before Adam calls out. 

“Wait!”

Adam’s wringing his hands. Ronan turns and waits, but only for a second. 

“Catch me.” 

Ronan drops the box of lightbulbs and catches Adam by the waist as soon as he leaps. It’s seamless. The transition from ground to air is immediate, and Ronan’s grip is steady as he turns, lifting Adam higher and slowly spinning them both. He suddenly tosses Adam up, and the gasp Adam lets out turns into a relieved exhale. He’s in Ronan’s arms princess-style, and their noses bump from the proximity. 

“Like that?” Ronan murmurs, amused and cocky and pleased with himself. 

“Shut up,” Adam hisses, eyes narrowed, conflicted between relief and _jesus is that a tattoo on his shoulder Director is never going to let this happen does he even know how to dance_

Ronan’s smirk widens into a wicked grin, and Adam vividly has an image of a snake crushing a frail basket, setting both itself and the snake charmer free.


	2. Chapter 2

Adam makes a big show of checking his watch as soon as Ronan strides through the double doors. Ronan frowns in annoyance. 

“I’m not late.”

“But you’re not dressed.” Adam stares expectantly, eyebrows raised just enough to make him seem condescending. _God, it’s like watching a prairie dog trying to be stern,_ Ronan thinks. _He’s trying so fucking hard I almost feel bad._

“Fine.” Ronan hunches over, reaching for his shoulder blades to pull off his sweatshirt. He carelessly tosses it to the ground before pulling his t-shirt down to conceal the inches of skin where it had ridden up. “Better?” 

Adam releases a clipped exhale of air. His voice is low, patience struggling to remain intact. 

“I meant tights. I told you to wear tights. Did you bring any?”

“Do I **_look_** like I fucking own tights, Mr. Actual-Nutcracker? Besides, you’re not wearing any.”

The flush of color is immediate, Adam’s face reddening in frustration.

“Well, **_smartass,_** we don’t have to wear tights all the time. I asked for tights because I didn’t think you owned these!” 

Adam snaps the hem of his black spandex to demonstrate, the sound echoing in the empty studio. Ronan’s eyes naturally follow the movement, bringing his attention to Adam’s legs, bare from mid-thigh down. 

Adam stops breathing. _Mistake mistake huge fucking mistake goddammit don’t look at me please don’t look._

Ronan’s steel eyes linger on Adam’s hip. They travel down his thighs, to his calves and his ankle. As he makes his way back up, Adam has to resist the urge to fidget. Being evaluated only makes Adam flush more, and he has to subtly turn his head to the side, pretending to be annoyed. 

“I don’t have time for this. We’ll just start anyway.”

Ronan suddenly develops the beginning of a smirk. 

“I guess I could…” He starts unbuttoning his jeans, the black denim providing a stark contrast to his pale skin.

“NO. NONONO STOP. STOP. Jeans are fine jesus fucking CHRIST, you can just mimic the jumps for now, jesus.” 

Ronan’s smirk turns full grin. Adam thinks it looks manic, but his mind stubbornly keeps reminding him of the sliver of skin he saw— the v of hipbones as sharp as Ronan’s smile and the inches of lean, lower body he’d glimpsed earlier. Keeping his eyes firmly trained on the ground, Adam nearly stomps over to the middle of the room, turning to see if Ronan has followed. Except Ronan hasn’t stopped walking. He steps into Adam’s space, dipping his head low and fitting his hand on Adam’s waist. 

“So does it start—”

Adam roughly pushes Ronan away. He actually pushes so hard they both end up stumbling a little. His blush comes back just as it was starting to fade away, and he has to force himself to look straight into the wall length mirrors in front of them. Unfortunately, he can still see Ronan, more upright than he should be after being pushed so hard. 

“l’ll start, you copy,” Adam forces out, hoping his voice is steady. Ronan’s still smirking. _Asshole._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam agrees to a night out. Ronan takes him to meet Blue and Gansey.

“Am I being murdered or what? It’s pitch black, and the last streetlight was 10 miles ago.”

Ronan gives Adam a wry look, jerking the wheel hard to the left. They skid around the next turn, the screech of tires accompanying Ronan’s laugh. Adam slams into window, yelling more in surprise than pain. 

“Dead yet?” 

“I wish,” Adam says, hand on the dash and breathless.

Ronan laughs again, shifting into gear to push 120 as they near the warehouse. When he brakes, the BMW slides into the parking lot with a cloud of dust. 

“Look,” Ronan begins, solemn and low. “I’m sorry if this half an hour ride scared you—”

“It didn’t.”

“—but it’s really fun to see you lose composure.”

Adam shoves Ronan away, shaking his head as he bites back the smile. Ronan grins, thankful he’s forgiven.

They get out of the car, and Ronan starts to walk towards the large building, barely visible in the dark. They have to wind their way through a hoard of cars, parked carelessly at reckless angles. 

“We’re meeting my friends here,” Ronan says, turning back to make sure Adam is following. “Gansey’s an old man, so you won’t have to worry about him. And Blue is…”

Ronan makes a quick gesture in the air between them, although Adam has no idea what it means. He gives Ronan an expectant look, waiting for him to fill in the blanks, but Ronan doesn’t see it. He’s too busy closing the distance between them and the warehouse, grabbing Adam’s arm to pull him along. 

They don’t stop for the doors, and since there’s no one there to stop them, Ronan goes straight through. It’s an instant change in atmosphere, the strobe lights and smoke and colored lasers all competing for their attention. 

Ronan’s smirking, and turns to meet Adam’s gaze, bending down to yell in his ear. 

“See? There’s dancing. Should feel right at home.”

Adam tips his head up, bringing it back down a moment too slow. He tries to make up for it with a weak laugh. Ronan’s brow tenses with confusion. 

“What? It’s not like you've never danced before.”

Adam shakes his head . “Not like this…” he says, taking in the glowing warehouse. 

It’s bodies in constant motion and neon drinks and a dance floor so hypnotic the only thing visible is the person in front of you. The rest of the world flashes in and out, entirely dependent on the lasers and strobe lights. 

Adam isn’t self-conscious. Years of practicing in front of a mirror has made him appreciate his body. Just not like this. Adam’s forte is orchestrated elegance— contractions and releases and turns to highlight his strengths. 

This, this is uninhabited. This is freeform grace, the grace that comes with letting go of insecurities and doubts and defenses. This, Adam is not familiar with. Not at all. 

Ronan bends over, catching Adam’s eye to see if he’s joking. He raises his brow in surprise, and Adam thanks every divine being when a strong hand on Ronan’s shoulder saves him from explaining. 

Ronan turns around to greet the boy, introducing him as Gansey. He looks like the opposite of an old man. He looks like he could live forever. 

“Nice to meet you,” Adam yells over the music. 

“Likewise,” Gansey says, bowing slightly at the waist. 

_Gentleman_ , Adam thinks. 

“And this is Maggot,” Ronan says, shoving forward a short girl. Ronan quickly jumps away as she tries to stomp on his foot. “Blue. This is Blue.” 

Adam nods tersely, already looking towards the upper level tables. Someone will need to get a table, right? They need somewhere to put the drinks. And since Blue is looking towards the dance floor, Adam figures he can—

Except Ronan and Blue beat him to it. All three of them start talking at once. 

“I think I’ll—”

“I’m going to go dance.”

“Maggot should know how to—”

Three heads snap back to each other, with three different expressions on each. 

“ _ **Blue**_ will teach you,” Ronan says again, shoving Adam towards Blue. 

She gives Ronan a lethal glare, but he cocks his head, and she takes Adam’s hand anyway.

Adam looks over his shoulder in distress. Ronan grins, and Gansey gives him a thumbs-up moments too late. Adam watches them go up the metal staircase, craning his head until they’re out of view.

Adam feels Blue tug on his hand, drawing his attention back to the floor. As people part way for Blue, Adam realizes her presence is much more tangible than his own. It’s comforting that she’s so self-assured. When they’ve made it deep enough into the crowd, she turns around and starts dancing. 

Adam is glad for the darkness because he’s sure he couldn’t look worse right now. His limbs feel too long. His feet are suddenly made of lead. His natural flexibility has disappeared, and in its place is a fear of somehow falling and making a big scene because people will have to help him get up and—

Blue tugs his hand again. Right. Breathe. Breathe. 

He scans the second floor, subtly looking for a black tank top leaning against the railings. Ronan’s smiling at something Gansey said, and Adam wonders if he mistook the reason he was invited. Until Gansey shifts to look at Blue. His gaze is so potently obvious it hurts. 

Adam looks back at Ronan, who’s watching him and trying not to laugh. Adam huffs, turning back to Blue. She smiles, warm and encouraging. 

“Decided to have fun, yet?” Blue shouts. 

Adam bends down, their foreheads bumping in his haste. She laughs, though, and as Adam laughs with her, he realizes that this should be easy. That it will be easy. Starting now. 

The song changes to something charged with synthesizers and pounding bass, galvanizing the entire crowd. There’s yelling and whoops and shrieks, and then everyone’s jumping to the beat. Blue pumps her fist, and Adam follows suit. 

He laughs at Blue, with her eyes shut tight and bottom lip between her teeth. And then Adam laughs at himself, enjoying the shameless atmosphere. He wants to take off his shirt, he thinks. It’s hot. And to fit the scene, of course. That guy did, and he looks like he’s—

Adam rams into a solid chest, turning around immediately with an apology on hand. It’s Ronan, and he grins when he sees Adam was about to apologize for bumping into another person when it’s so packed they can’t blink without jostling into one another. 

“Having fun?” 

“Yes,” Adam yells, surprised at how breathless he sounds. 

“Good,” Ronan smirks. "Because we're just getting started." 


End file.
